pink butterfly shirt

I finished this shirt a while ago, took pictures ages ago, and then never posted it. not really sure why that is. I guess I just forgot.
its made from a new look pattern #6045, and was relatively easy to make.
I made my normal changes of adding to the bodice length. and also I made it short sleeve for two reasons, one fabric restraints, and two I prefer a short sleeve to a long or sleeveless. I just made view B, and left off the bottom part of the sleeves. then added a little slit, which I finished with a bias cut ribbon to tie.

I didn’t like how low it was though, so I tried to make the neck line not plunge quite so much. the pattern picture doesn’t look that low, but it is, and I remembered this from when my sister made this pattern. unfortunately bringing up the neck line caused the shirt to be a bit restrictive across the shoulders. apparently there was a reason it was cut that way.

and then I realized why do I even care how low it is, I have to wear a cami under it anyway because I didn’t line the bottom half of the shirt and the fabric is sheer. which has led me to think about trying to redo the neck line back to the original cut.
which is probably why I haven’t posted this yet. I was going to try to improve upon it. however I am finding the idea of tearing it apart and remaking it a bit daunting at the moment. so this may be one that I just am not exactly comfortable wearing, but yeah I have been wearing it anyway and will probably continue to do so. I don't think it looks bad, its just a comfort thing.


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red ridding hood cape and snow!

I made this cape years ago for a red ridding hood costume. using Butterick pattern #B4377.

I thought our most recent snow fall would be a good time to revisit the cape. I love getting out in the snow once or twice a year and just playing. sledding down my big hill is always fun but taking pictures in the snow is one of my favorite things to do. and its always a good excuse to play a bit of dress up.

the cape was fairly easy to make, though I do have to admit it was a bit hard finding a place to cut it out, the pieces are rather large. I ended up going to a friends and borrowing her cutting table to cut it out, because I didn’t have the room to lay it out. the fun thing was my cousin Dressed as Robin hood for the same event that year using this same pattern so we ended up going together to cut them out. which I think made the whole cutting out process take twice as long but that's ok because giggling always makes it worth the extra time, and whenever we get together there tends to be plenty of that going on.

I didn’t line my cape, for one because I am lazy, and two I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle the weight of it if I did. which I still think is true, the fabric I used is a fairly heavy cotton blend, though I have to admit I can not remember what the blend is. and its weighs more then one would think.

I do remember freezing the first time I wore the cape and wishing I had lined it, it was terribly windy that day and what we were doing was outside.
but wearing it this time, even though I was in snow I wasn’t cold at all. its amazing how much warmer it feels when there is no wind.
I just love the way the cape swishes when I twirl!the rest of my outfit is a mish mosh of other costumes. except the boots they are just my winter boots.
the shirt also being from red riding hood.
the skirt is part of my Alice in wonderland costume from several years ago.
the vest is a bit of a preview of the Belle from beauty in the beast costume I made but then didn’t get to wear.
I will write about that later in the spring, when I plan to get some pictures in the mountains but I have to wait for the snow to be on on its way.


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a dress for my niece’s birthday

a few moths ago I was on etsy looking at vintage patterns, just browsing not really intending on buying anything, when I came across this pattern, DuBarry 2132B. my niece was over so I showed it to her and she freaked out. it was so cute! I asked her if she wanted me to make it for her birthday. she excitedly told me yes, and so I ordered the pattern. then came the finding of the perfect fabric.

I first bought a solid color fabric in a teal color a bit lighter then the green dress on the pattern, but that fabric didn’t work out. when I pre-washed it I didn’t like the way it reacted, to the washing and drying . the fabric wrinkled badly and was really staticy. meaning it would need to be ironed and rolled every time it was washed something I knew would not happen. so I ditched that fabric idea (I’m going to use it in something else.) and decided to try to find something else.
at the fabric store I searched for the perfect fabric but couldn’t decide what to get I had pretty much decided, when I put it back afraid it would be something she didn’t like. my niece is getting older which means she’s not quite as easy to shop for, bubblegum pink just doesn’t do it anymore. so I asked her mom if they could meet me at the fabric store. the best thing is when they got there after spending probably an hour looking at all the fabric she chose the one I chosen. I do know my niece! yea!

now to the cutting and sewing.
I got an extra half yard of fabric then what it said. I tend to buy a little extra fabric so I don’t have to worry about it. turns out that was a good idea, I needed the extra fabric for the back bow. the pattern assumed that the fabric would be same right side and wrong side, which modern fabric is usually not that way. I wonder if the fabric from the thirties was generally the same on either side. I ended up doubling the fabric on the bow so it would be the same colors on both sides for a nicer finish when tied.

the pattern called for purchased frilling, but, yeah in order for the ruffles to match I made my own.
the ruffles were not bad at all to make. I have a ruffle foot and can I just say I love it! I had to make four yards of ruffle which means I needed eight yards of straight fabric to be ruffled. and anyone who has had to make that much ruffle knows it can be a pain.
I also put the ruffles on different then they said too. they wanted me to sew them on facing up, then press it down to cover the raw edges. I thought doing it that way would probably cause the ruffles to stick back up every time the dress was worn, and again the pressing thing, so I opted to sew them the way I wanted them to face then added the ribbon detail to cover the raw edges,plus it gives that extra little pop of detail.

the main part of the dress I put together just the way they told me to.





the sleeves I did slightly different only because its easier to serge on the binding at the bottom of the sleeve rather then the folding the bias over the raw edges, I always mess that up. I also added the ribbon to the sleeves for a pop.

the bows I did completely different. they had me make strips then they wanted me to actually tie them! I’m not the best at tying, so after some trial and error, that had to do with math, I figured out how much shorter the strips needed to be to make a different kind of bow. its basically sewing at the center, pressing then making a little tab to wrap around it. pretty easy but takes a while simply because of the small size of them.


the fabric we chose was wonderful to sew with, there is something to be said about buying the higher quality fabrics they really do sew nicer. as I was sewing the dress I decided I was totally jealous of my niece and when I was finished and looked at the dress I was still jealous. I love the way it turned out. I loved the puffed sleeves and the big bow in the back, I love the shape of the dress and I want one too. too bad I’m not good enough to rework a child’s pattern to fit me.

and the best part is my niece loved it! she kept twirling and giggling once she put it on. she told me she loved it even more then she thought it would, it just turned out so good.!
there is nothing better then when people love what you spent so much time making them.



* This blog is not to be used for training AI*

cute little ornaments

I don’t usually buy patterns like this, but I was waiting at the fabric store for my niece and her mom to show up so my niece could pick out some fabric for her birthday dress. since I had time to waste I was looking at the pattern books. normally when I go through the pattern books I skip all the crafty bits, sticking to the clothing, buying up patterns when they are on sale that I then hoard, because well... I think they are pretty?
since I did have so much time though I looked through the entire thing and this pattern said to me “buy me, make me” so I did just that I bought it.

the pattern is simplicity 8035.
I didn’t exactly follow the directions in the pattern, a lot of it was gluing the pieces together and I am against gluing what can be sewn. so I basically didn’t pay any attention the instructions, which I find worked just fine. every bit of it was done by hand, and sewn wirh embroidery floss. I really like the way they turned out.


on the snowman I gave him a scarf rather then the bow, just because I liked the idea of the scarf, and I have to say his hat was the hardest part of the entire pattern. it was so tiny!


the star was the easiest and I had it done fairly quickly


the deer took the longest, as it has the most pieces but its so cute! and I did it so its legs move. I also used buttons for its spots rather then using the spots the pattern called for, it was a bit less fussy that way.


the ginger bread man turned out so cute I could just eat him up.


I used purple on the little penguin even though I had bought black to make it with. when I saw the purple I thought it would be cuter.

miraculously I managed to make them all before Christmas even though I bought the pattern only about a week before. that is I made all the felt ones. I opted not to make the yeti, even though I think it is adorable I didn’t have fur to make it with, and really I am not a fan of working with fur. maybe next year though I consider it. it will after all complete the set.


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blue and white striped dress.

I picked up this pattern at a tag sale, thinking it was really cute and looked easy to make. shortly after that I was given this fabric and knew immediately I would be making this dress with it.


Its a McCall’s pattern from 1975, #4549 and a Laura Ashley design. its one of McCall’s carefree Patterns and was really easy to make.
I did the facing a little different then they called for because my fabric was too sheer and the facing shined through badly, so I ended up doing it more the way one would use a bias strip round a neck line.

the only issue I have with the pattern is I didn't realize it was going to be quite as low as it is. I should have though it looks pretty low on the pattern envelope. I ended up wearing something under it so I would be more comfortable. and decided if I ever make it again I will bring up the neck line a bit. it should be easy enough to do, its just straight lines.


the fabric I used is a blue and white striped cotton that was only 35” wide which I didn’t realize when I first measure it, since I was paying attention to yardage not width. so I thought I would have plenty and not have to worry in the least about have enough to make the dress, until I went to lay out the pattern. That is when I realized how thin the width was. once I realized that, I wasn’t sure there would be enough for the dress as it calls for 5 1/2 yards of 44” width, and I was a few inches shy of that. but I was determined even if it called for 6 yards of 35” width, I was going to somehow make this dress and with this fabric. I played with laying the dress out for a good hour before I got it down and was able to get all my pieces with only shortening the length 1” which I would have had to do anyway. one plan I had was to leave of the pockets or make them smaller if I had too, but I was able to even get those. I did have to piece together the sleeves as they are cut on a bias so they take more fabric but with the stripes that was no big deal.
sometimes completely ignoring the pattern layout suggestions is needed. I sear they waste more fabric with the way they lay things out.

all in all this dress was easy to make and is really comfortable to wear. I wouldn’t mind having the shirt from the pattern to wear under that. but that will have to wait for a later date as I have another project lined up already.

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1940's yellow plaid dress

well a full weekend and two audio books later I'm finished!

my 1940’s dress. represented in a yellow plaid made of cotton, and made from a vintage simplicity pattern # 3429 from 1941.


I have always read that vintage patterns are more true to size then our modern ones, so I took that to heart when I cut this out only to find out this one ran large. I don’t know if its from the bias which gives it a bit of stretch, or my fabric choice which is a cotton suiting. But the pattern ended up needing to be cut exactly as is and still I had to slightly deeper then the 1/2” seam allowance they called for.



after my first attempt at sewing this dress with the added few inches,(since I am not as small as this pattern says) I discovered the dress was just too big for me. the seams are such that simply sewing deeper didn’t work, so I ended up tearing the entire thing apart, and re- cutting all the pieces. I put all the lower part together before cutting the yolk so I could lay it with the fabric to match the plaids the way I wanted. I was able to use the front yolk pieces I had cut, by only cuting them down. I had cut two for the back yolk before and was able to make one of those work as well. which meant no wasted fabric. yea!

one of the big things I changed in this pattern was the button holes on the front yolk. I really wanted to do the bound button holes the pattern called for, but after realizing how badly this fabric frays I was a bit scared to try them. I didn’t want to have to re-cut and remake another part of the dress. so I did the logical thing of putting decorative buttons on the dress with snaps hidden behind to close the top.
I did a zipper on the side, which was one of two ways the pattern suggested, the other being hooks and snaps. I find zippers not only a lot easier to put in then the snaps, but a lot easier to use.



shoulder pads where another thing the pattern called for, and I opted out of. actually I put them in, and it looked real nice hanging on the hanger.
then I put the dress on and I thought I was going to suffocate. I never wear shoulder pads, and I did not realize how hot they are! with in minutes I was sweating like crazy and it was only 64 degrees. I couldn’t handle it and took them out. I know most people wore shoulder pads in the 1940’s but I also know that there had to be people like me who just couldn’t stand them and cut them out.

for the most part I am happy with my dress, though there are a few tiny things I would like to tweak on it. I may just live with the way it is. it did turn out cute.
would I make this pattern again?
not in that fabric! plaids are hard enough to match without there being no obvious right and wrong side to the fabric. but maybe in another fabric I might.



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